Recently, I've been hearing from a lot of girls I know about the book French Women Don't Get Fat. I haven't read it yet, but from what I've been told, the book basically says that you can eat whatever you want -- cheese, chocolate, wine, crusty bread -- and not get fat as long as you watch your portion control and eat these foods in moderation.

This common sense attitude has kept French women svelte while the size of people in other populations balloons. According to this though, even the French are starting to become victims of the obesity-epidemic sweeping many nations. A recent study on that nation's weight found that nearly half of the population (42%) either had a weight problem, were overweight or obese.

The number of obese French is still much lower than in North America but still obesity is on the rise in France. The problem isn't a traditional 'eat what you please, just don't go overboard' attitude, but an increase of people switching to a North American lifestyle. So if you still want to eat what you want don't lose heart, because you can as long as you keep the portions reasonable.